DNA my Dog

Wish your dog to live a longer, healthier and happier life? Our canine breed DNA test, targeted specifically at mixed breed dogs, can help you make the most of your dog’s overall well-being by providing an in-depth analysis of various aspects of your dog’s heritage and genetic make up.

Mixed Breed Testing: DNA My Dog

With this test you will discover:

✓The breeds that make up your dog’s DNA

✓The unique traits and characteristics of your dog

✓Concerns about genetic health issues and breed-specific health risks

✓Canine genetic predisposition to disease

Results also include a certificate with its breed composition and you have the option to include a photo of your dog if you wish.

Note: This test is made for mixed-breed dogs and will not determine whether your dog is pure bred.

Important Note: As the results are based on the dog’s entire gene pool it will not necessarily reflect the dog’s current appearance. Guessing a mixed-breed’s ancestry can be difficult even for knowledgeable dog observers, because mixed-breeds have much more genetic variation than purebreds. The presence of certain dog breeds in your results does not guarantee that the dog will look like the specific detected breeds, because the genetic contributions from the other breeds present may be more visible.

Your dog’s DNA will be matched to various dog breeds in the database. If a dog’s DNA contains a breed of dog that we do not have in our database, it will automatically get matched to the next closest breed or to the foundation breed of that dog. You can view the full list of breeds in the database here.

Why is this test so useful?

As a dog owner, your priority is certainly ensuring your dog enjoys a long, healthy and happy life. Understanding the many breeds that make up your dog is an important step in ensuring your dog’s wellbeing. Different breeds of dogs are prone to different health concerns: one breed may be genetically predisposed to entirely different diseases and will have different traits, characteristics and temperaments to another breed. Whilst nothing can really guarantee your dog will live to a ripe old age, our dog DNA test will enable you to take steps towards maintaining canine health and well-being.

Besides being useful, the test is also easy to carry out: samples are collected using a home kit which will contain mouth swabs. Mouth swabs just need to be rubbed inside the mouth of your dog, left to dry and sent to the laboratory for testing.

Results for a dog DNA test

The dog DNA test results will provide all the following information:

A breakdown of the canine breeds that make up your dog’s DNA, graded from level 1 to level 5. Level 1 will help dog owners learn which breed forms the most significant part of their dog’s DNA (75% or more). Level 2 will indicate those breeds that are present in your dog’s DNA, which will be easily recognizable but not as strong as those indicated in level 1. Levels 3-5 are those breeds that form the smaller or less significant part of your dog’s DNA.

For each of the breeds found at different levels, we will highlight the main traits and temperament for that breed of dog. Knowing that a dog has a tendency to be, for example, docile, stubborn, eager to please, gentle, protective or aggressive can help you train your dog in a more effective manner as well as understand how to provide the best environment in which to raise them.

Another section of your results will highlight the major health concerns for each breed detected. Knowing that your dog is prone to a given disease will help you be more proactive and vigilant over you dog, keeping your eyes open for signs and symptoms of a disease to which they are susceptible; avoiding dietary or environmental factors known to precipitate the disease or take your canine friend for regular health checks. In this section you may also get some bits of advice, for example, to limit the amount of food given to those breeds that tend to gain weight easily.

How it works

When the laboratory receives a canine sample, scientists proceed to extract the DNA from the sample using a special procedure, known as Polymerase Chain Reaction, which allows them to make thousands of copies of the canine DNA. Once they have the copies, they can amplify them in order to analyze the genetic markers. Certain genetic markers are unique to certain dog breeds; this means that if they run your dog’s genetic markers against those genetic markers for the many breeds in the database, they will likely begin to find matches. This matching process is performed on a computer through a sophisticated program that repeats the analysis thousands of times to assure an accurate result.

The dog breed database and notes to bear in mind

The dog breed DNA test is a highly reliable test and can typically identify the majority breeds in a mixed breed canine with great accuracy. However, experience indicates that in a very small number of cases (approximately 2.3% of all DNA canine testing) will yield results that are inaccurate or cannot be interpreted. This is due to two main factors:

Dogs have extremely high levels of oral bacteria which may result in the DNA degrading. If this does happen, we may be unable to extract a canine DNA profile.

The laboratory analyzing your dog’s DNA samples has access to a vast genetic database containing 80 of the most common breeds found in mixed breed dogs. However, our database does not cover all dog breeds known. You can view the full list of breeds in the database here. If a dog’s DNA contains a breed of dog that we do not have in our database, it will automatically get matched to the next closest breed or to the foundation breed of that dog.